Energy Leap and Energiesprong

Caroline Russell: Could you provide an update on the progress on the Energy Leap/Energiesprong pilot project including: a) expected completion date, b) total funding allocated to this project, c) funding allocated per pilot home or expected cost of retrofit per pilot home, and d) expected date for the research and outcome of this pilot project to be published?

The Mayor: The contractor is targeting practical completion of eight homes in the programme by the end of summer 2020 subject to planning approvals.
Total funding allocated to this project is £496,000 in capital (from the GLA) and £120,000 in revenue (from a grant from the Carbon Neutral Cities Alliance).
The average funding allocated per home is £62,000 (this is comparable with the UK’s first Energiesprong retrofits in Nottingham).Deep whole-house retrofit of this kind is currently very expensive in the UK, with only a small number of contractors capable of delivering to the required standard. For these reasons, my Retrofit Accelerator – Homes programme, which I launched in December 2019 will complement the Energy Leap pilot by working with the supply chain to drive down costs.
The evaluation research is scheduled to be completed within three months of practical completion of the last retrofit and should be available by the end of winter 2020.
Lessons from the Energy Leap project have already fed into the aforementioned Retrofit Accelerator – Homes programme, catalysing appetite for further retrofits of this nature.

Household recycling

Tony Arbour: What actions are you taking to increase household recycling levels in London?

The Mayor: In London responsibility for providing waste management services lies with boroughs and I have no powers in this area once waste service contracts are agreed and enacted. As a result, services vary from borough to borough. To achieve a high municipal recycling rate in London, more consistent and easy to use services are needed across the city.
Modelling to support my London Environment Strategy shows that to achieve London’s recycling targets, boroughs would need to collect as a minimum the six dry main commonly recycled materials (glass, tins/cans, paper, card, mixed plastics and plastic bottles) from every property, and in addition provide a separate food waste collection separately from kerbside properties. Boroughs are encouraged to collect additional materials where markets exist and they have capacity to do so. . I continued to lobby government to ensure that new proposals provide the funding to support boroughs in delivery their services. .
Furthermore, my LES requires all London boroughs to produce Reduction and Recycling Plans (RRPs) by 2020. In addition to reviewing local waste authority contracts before they are tendered, RRPs are a way for me to oversee actions at a local level to improve recycling services.
Where boroughs are not already meeting my minimum service level my officers have worked with them to set out in their RRPs and contract procurement documents a commitment and clear road map of how and when they will do so. I have received draft RRPs from all boroughs and expect to approve all these in the coming weeks.
Please also see my response to Mayor’s Question 2020/0416.

Incineration rates

Caroline Russell: According to new data released by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) on 28 November 2019, London sent the largest proportion of local authority collected waste to incineration in 2018-19. This proportion was 59.3 per cent. The proportion London has recycled is only 30.2 per cent. We incinerate the largest amount compared to all other regions, and recycle the least. What are you doing to reduce incineration rates?

The Mayor: I want London to be a zero carbon and zero waste city. This means, by 2026 no biodegradable or recyclable waste will be sent to landfill and boroughs will need to meet my minimum level of service for recycling by 2020, boosting London’s household recycling rate to meet a 65% municipal recycling target by 2030.
To achieve these targets and reduce incineration rates, local authorities are required to meet my minimum level of recycling service (LES Proposal 7.2.1.a) and produce local Reduction and Recycling Plans setting out actions and local targets making an effective contribution to my London-wide targets (LES Proposal 7.2.1.b).
I do not have the powers to ban incineration or any energy from waste technology. However, I will continue to use my powers through the London Environment Strategy and London Plan to ensure boroughs contribute to my Emissions Performance Standard (EPS) and meet my Carbon Intensity Floor. Both are carbon-based approaches to promote recycling, particularly of high carbon and high value materials, such as plastic, metals and textiles. It also makes sure that only truly non-recyclable waste sent to energy from waste plants , and that these facilities recover electricity and heat. Boroughs are expected to meet these targets through their waste contract renewals, boosting recycling rates, reducing waste and only sending truly residual waste to energy generation.
I made it clear in the LES that if London achieves my waste reduction and recycling targets, we will not need any new energy from waste facilities (incineration or gasification) beyond those already built or that have planning permission. I have already made representations to the examining authority on Cory’s planning application for major new and additional incineration capacity at its existing Riverside Energy Park, stressing that such a facility is not required for the sustainable management of London’s genuinely residual waste and indeed potentially undermines my plans towards a more circular economy that prioritises reduction re-use and recycling. London’s current and planned incineration capacity must be, and I am working to ensure is, fully prioritised for genuinely residual waste.
Please also see my response to Mayor’s Question 2020/0416.

Standardising London’s recycling systems

Caroline Russell: London boroughs inconsistently recycle common household items. In November 2019, I contacted all London boroughs asking whether they could recycle seven common household items. No borough was able to recycle all seven items and 10 boroughs could recycle none, one or two, meaning residents would have to travel out of borough to recycle as many items as possible. What will you do to bring oversight of London’s recycling systems under your control?

The Mayor: In London responsibility for providing waste management services lies with boroughs and I have no powers in this area once waste service contracts are agreed and enacted. However, I believe it is essential that more action is taken to reduce waste and increase recycling. What I have been concentrating on is getting a consistent and ambitious Londonwide approach by setting policies in my London Environment Strategy, including a requirement for every borough to produce a Reduction and Recycling Plan with ambitious targets. Additionally, reviewing local waste authority contracts before they are tendered, are a way for me to oversee actions at a local level to improve recycling services.
Boroughs are encouraged to collect additional materials where markets exist and where their collection vehicles have the capacity. Currently 29 boroughs meet my minimum dry recycling service level and 24 boroughs separately collect food waste. Information on what materials every borough collects for recycling can be found on the Local Authority Waste Portal http://laportal.wrap.org.uk/
See also my responses to Mayor’s Question 2020/0047, 2019/20829, 2019/20704 and 2019/20733

Connecting the Warmer Homes Advice Service (WHAS) and London Power

Onkar Sahota: What processes exist to ensure that individuals signing up to London Power who are eligible for the WHAS are given support accordingly?

The Mayor: We are in the process of setting up a direct referral mechanism between London Power and the Warmer Homes Advice Service (WHAS). Customers who contact the London Power customer service team and are assessed as eligible for WHAS will be referred, with their permission, to a WHAS provider. These customers will then be contacted by the WHAS provider and offered support. Whilst this referral process is being established, the customer service team are signposting eligible customers to the WHAS to allow them to self-refer.

Retrofit Accelerator (1)

Leonie Cooper: Has the Retrofit Accelerator begun retrofitting homes yet?

The Mayor: The Retrofit Accelerator - Homes programme was opened in December 2019 and formally launched in February 2020.
The programme team has made good progress with finding early-adopter housing partners and have identified suitable properties and appropriate deep retrofit solutions, making the business case to the organisation and securing capital to undertake the works.
Taking the lead from my Energy Leap pilot project, funding for a larger tranche of ultra-low carbon homes should be announced shortly. The transformative nature of such deep intervention means that timescales to installation are currently longer than with standard retrofit (e.g. securing organisational buy-in from the landlord, onboarding tenants, designing the detailed specification, securing planning approval and procuring a skilled contractor). For this reason, the retrofit of these homes will be some months after the funding is announced.

Beddington Incinerator fire

Caroline Russell: A constituent has contacted me about a fire that took place at the Beddington Incinerator site in July 2019. Are you: a) aware of the incident, and b) if so, can you provide an update on the investigation?

The Mayor: On 11 July 2019, four London Fire Brigade fire engines and one aerial appliance attended a fire at a waste management site in Beddington. The fire occurred within a range of recycling waste sorting shelters and Close Circuit Television (CCTV) confirmed that the fire originated within a pile of waste being moved by the on-site plant equipment. A detailed fire investigation was not possible as the waste had to be excavated and turned over as part of the firefighting process. The cause of the fire has therefore been recorded as being unknown.